Previous studies have suggested an association between preoperative plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent surgery. In this study, we evaluate the value of pre- and post-operative plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels and changes in the levels of the two markers between before and after operation in predicting tumor recurrence and metastasis in NSCLC patients who undergoing radical surgery. One hundred and eighty-four patients with I-IIIA NSCLC were enrolled in this study, and plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were measured in these patients before and after surgery, respectively. The results showed that pre- and post-operative plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were significantly higher in NSCLC patients than in control group. Pre- and post-operative plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer positivities were significantly correlated with tumor recurrence (P = 0.020 and P = 0.001 for fibrinogen, and P = 0.027 and P = 0.001 for D-dimer). Moreover, there was a significant link between the decrease in fibrinogen and D-dimer levels after surgery and tumor recurrence (P = 0.014 and P = 0.018). Patients with pre- and post-operative fibrinogen and D-dimer positivities had a shorter disease-free survival (DFS) than those without (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001 for fibrinogen, and P = 0.003 and P = 0.001 for D-dimer). Multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that pre- and post-operative fibrinogen and D-dimer positivities were independent predictors for unfavorable DFS. Our results indicate that pre- and post-operative plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer levels may be useful biomarkers in predicting tumor recurrence and metastasis for patients who undergo curative surgery.